Flow State Editing

I’m nearly always reading either a creative writing craft book or a guide to academic writing (or one of each). Currently, I’m alternating between a wildly popular book on ‘productivity’ for academic writers and the wonderful book Dear Writer by poet Maggie Smith. The former echoes the common...

my dogs or going for a run. The ideas cascade so quickly I can hardly collect them all, and I rush to a notebook or my phone to record notes. So, yes, walking my dogs counts as writing.

I’m nearly always reading either a creative writing craft book or a guide to academic writing (or one of each). Currently, I’m alternating between a wildly popular book on ‘productivity’ for academic writers and the wonderful book Dear Writer by poet Maggie Smith. The former echoes the common...

on the page, or it might look like organizing your references. Or reading a book for inspiration. Or compiling a list of target journals or publishers. Talking to a colleague after work. Getting to bed early so you can live to write another day. Going for a walk in the woods to clear your head...

I’m nearly always reading either a creative writing craft book or a guide to academic writing (or one of each). Currently, I’m alternating between a wildly popular book on ‘productivity’ for academic writers and the wonderful book Dear Writer by poet Maggie Smith. The former echoes the common...

prescription to write every day at the same time in the same place, whether you’re inspired or not. Granted, this works for some people. And, indeed, I don’t recommend waiting for inspiration to strike. Inspiration often arrives once you get into the flow, and some aspects of academic writing...